


Space is an Ocean

by OpalliteGlass



Category: Voltron: Legendary Defender
Genre: ? - Freeform, Alien!AU, Kinda, M/M, Slow Boil, domestic AU, sea monster!au
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2018-01-04
Updated: 2018-03-06
Packaged: 2019-02-28 05:28:09
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 5
Words: 18,957
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/13264668
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/OpalliteGlass/pseuds/OpalliteGlass
Summary: Lance is a marine biologist who stumbles upon a strange alien creature living in California Bay. But what if this alien is far more human than he appears?





	1. Chapter 1

Keith had been alive for almost a month now. The saltwater of California Bay was incredibly rich in vital nutrients he needed for organogenesis. He had started out so small, almost microscopic. But now he was over twenty-five feet long, his serpentine body stretching behind him into the dark waters.

He had modeled the top part of his body on some humans he had seen on the beach far away. Black hair, a lean build. This, he was sure, would be acceptable when he made the transition to land. He hadn’t figured out exactly how to form legs yet, but he would learn eventually. He just had to keep eating, keep growing. He was sent here for a purpose; it was ingrained in his D.N.A. He had to study the apex predator of this planet and document their behavior and culture.

Even his name, Keith, was an acronym for something. Not a true name. He didn’t really have a name, he supposed. But his neural net was growing every day, becoming less decentralized and more concrete. Relationships between neurons, the spaces between spaces, the weightlessness of the water, all of these things were vital.

He had to stay hidden, though. His current appearance would startle the humans and he would be killed, or worse: Dissected. He meant no harm, truly he didn’t. But right now he resembled a long translucent serpent with undulating lights and pulsing organs running down his length with a human boy glued on top. Not the best look for conversation.

He lay in the dark, black waters of the bay. It was night now. He had just finished feeding. Shark was the meal today. It had simply wandered too close to him and was consumed in an instant by Keith’s always-changing morphology. The shark has interesting memories; some good, some bad. Hunting a sperm whale, chasing a squid.

Becoming a parent. It was a cold, calculating feeling. This species was clearly not cognizant enough to know any better. Keith sighed, a habit he picked up from some beach goers. He rolled over in the water lazily. There was nothing to do for now but digest his latest meal, maybe alter his biology a bit. He himself was a infant; just the first stage in his species’ life cycle. He didn’t know where this was heading, but he knew to trust his instincts.

* * *

“Fish population has dropped fifteen percent.” Lance said, tapping a chart and shoving it towards Pidge. “And only in that area alone.” He grumbled over his coffee. “I suspect night fishing. Super sketchy.”

Pidge rolled her eyes and popped her gum loudly. “A population drop isn’t that strange. It’s almost winter, they probably migrated.” She twisted a knob on her microscope and peered into the eyepiece. “You’re breathing on my slide. It’s getting all foggy.”

“I’m just saying, we’ve got a very fragile ecosystem here!” Lance slapped the graphs on the table, making Pidge jump and lose her focal setting.

“Damn it, Lance. Now I have to start over...”

“I didn’t get a degree in marine biology to just sit and look at slides in a lab all day!” Lance said, earning a scathing look from Pidge. “Not that there’s anything wrong with that...” He corrected himself sheepishly.

“Look, it’s obvious you care about this. You’ve go the grant money, make this your thesis or something.” Pidge replied, twisting the knobs again. “Aha! Got it.”

“What do you think it is, though? Could be a shark or some other predator that got stuck in the bay.” Lance asked.

Pidge shrugged. “Could be.”

Lance frowned. “You’re not listening to me, are you?”

“Not really.”

“Will you come with me tonight?”

“No.”

Lance frowned, his eyebrows furrowing. “I don’t wanna go out there alone...”

Pidge sighed, annoyed. “You’re a marine biologist, but you’re afraid of water. You’re such a cliché.”

“I like the things _in_ the water. That’s the cool part. The actual water part is… not my thing.” Lance twiddled his thumbs nervously. “You won’t come with me?”

“It’s not that I don’t want to. I’ve got this paper on gastropods I’ve gotta finish. Real riveting stuff.”

“Snails? Really?”

“Really.” Pidge looked at him over her glasses. “Better rent a boat now, they’re gonna close soon.”

* * *

It was dark. Far too dark. Lance made very sure to stand near the middle of the boat. He did not want to look into the deep, black abyss of the bay’s waters. He was just here to get samples. That’s it. If he got squalene in the traps, he’d know it was a shark.

For science. He thought. You’re doing this for science.

He had rented the boat right before the rental service closed. He paid for the whole day, and he regretted his choice as soon as he set out on the water. He planted himself in the middle of the bay and needed to wait until night. He wasted time on his phone, checked his equipment, did other various things, and soon the sun had set and the moon had risen.

It was even more unnerving in the dark. He stole a look over the side, seeing his reflection on the water illuminated by the lights on the boat. He pulled back, already scared that something was going to reach out of the liquid and pull him in, straight to the bottom. He was always afraid there was something in there, watching him. Something bigger than he could imagine, faster, more intelligent. He hated the thought of that creature emerging from the dark, hundred of eyes blinking. Or maybe just one eye. A big eye. And tentacles tipped in teethed mouths.

Lance shivered. He needed to stop his thoughts from spiraling. He had come to terms with his fears by constant exposure through his work, but being this close to the water… it was making him extremely nervous.

He sighed, collecting himself. _It’s just water. This area is barren, anyway. No life, just water. It’s just water._

But that thought somehow scared him even more. Miles and miles of open ocean. No one would know where he went. It was so deep, he could be crushed to death in seconds. So dark, he couldn’t even see a hand in front of his face. Not to mention the whole breathing situation.

 _Damnit, Lance. Stop._ He said to himself. _You’re okay. You’re on a boat. It’s okay._

He steeled himself again, and bent down to pick up his equipment. He began tossing them over the side, making sure to stay away from the edges. A hydrophone for hearing, a bait sampler to collect anything the animal might leave behind after feeding, and a camera for posterity. All set.

Lance unfolded a beach chair and sat down, clapping a pair of headphone on his ears and started listening to the hydrophone. The open ocean sounded less scary than it looked.

A background hum was present, along with the constant sound of air bubbles rising from the ocean bed. In the distance, Lance could hear… whales. Their beautiful sonorant cries reached all the way to the bay, hundred of miles out.

Lance smiled. They were migrated, calling to each other so they wouldn’t get lost. He had a soft spot for whales; his room was filled with little plush ones. His keychain even had a whale on it. For a moment, he relaxed.

The hydrophone picked up some dolphins playing to the south, closer to the beach. Their squeaks were higher, shorter. More… fun. They were definitely playing keep-away with a seashell, Lance could hear them hitting a hard object with their snouts as they passed it between each other.

Then manta rays to the north. Their cries were very low, almost mournful. They were getting ready to migrate just as the whales were. The waters of their home had warmed up; it was time for them to return. Perhaps they were sad they were leaving?

Lance laughed to himself. He loved anthropomorphizing the feelings of marine life. Their habits were so human-esque, but their physiques so inhuman. It was easy to forget that he and they shared common D.N.A. Everything on this planet did. All things, big and small, predator and prey, plant and animal. They were all connected by invisible threads drawn by genetics, connecting all life together in a beautiful web.

Lance loved it. It’s why he became a scientist. He wanted to unravel the mysteries of creation, the beauty of evolution. And the ocean was where to start.

Then something strange sounded through the headphones.

Lance jerked up in the chair, looking around the boat as if something had entered it while he wasn’t looking. But there was nothing. The sound echoed again. It was definitely coming through the hydrophone. This was a cry he was not familiar with.

It was a strange combination of guttural throat noises and melodic notes. Perhaps the hydrophone was glitching?

Lance stood, walking over to the metal box that served as the receiving hub for the hydrophone and kicked it. Static filled his ears, then silence.

Then the noise happened again.

Louder.

It was closer.

Lance started breathing hard. It was big. This was not a shark. It was something larger. He began pulling the hydrophone out of the water, but it snagged on something. A horrendous noise came from the headphones as the microphone was destroyed, leaving Lance with nothing but frayed wires.

His eyes widened as his body started to enter full panic mode.

It was under the boat.

“No...” He breathed, running to the bait collector and the camera. “No, no, no...” He stopped and doubled back, turning on his distress frequency. Somewhere, Pidge would be woken up by a quiet beeping from her phone to alert her that Lance was having an emergency.

He returned to the equipment, still panting. He rushed to pull the bait box out of the water, but it too was demolished. He was hyperventilating. All of his nightmares were coming true. He grabbed the iron rope of the camera and wrapped it around his forearm, tugging it up.

It tugged right back.

He was in the water instantly. His shoulder was screaming. It had definitely been dislocated. But as soon as he registered that fact, he realized where he was.

The water.

It was dark. Blackness all around. Cold. Quiet. Whatever was under the boat knew he was here. He half-expected a pair of jaws to encircle his chest and end him right there. He released his breath, panicking underneath the pressure of the water. He was in shock. He couldn’t move. Everything was going so slowly…

He could see the moon above the surface, shining down.

Maybe if he could get a grip, he could get back to the boat. The something blocked the moon. Lance felt the water rush around him as the creature swam in a circle, obviously sizing him up.

Then it rushed up to meet him. Lance closed his eyes, unable to face his fears. But death did not come. Nothing came. He was still drowning, his shoulder was still screaming. But no fangs, no tentacles. Nothing.

Slowly, reluctantly, he opened his eyes.

A boy was floating in front of him. Black hair was slowly undulating in the waters current. He had red eyes, and his skin was very pale.

For a moment, Lance thought he was saved. A nightswimmer or a beach patrolman had found him. Then his eyes were drawn to a light underneath the boys torso.

The light flashed, then blinked downwards, traveling the length of…

His body.

His long, serpentine body that extended down farther than Lance could see. It was semi-translucent, tinged with the blue of the water.

Lance’s heart was going too fast. He was about to die. No oxygen, no reason to what he was seeing. This was it.

But the… thing floated forward, cupping a cold hand to the back of Lance’s head. He brought him closer, pressing its lips to his. Immediately, Lance felt life-giving air flow into his lungs. He sputtered, almost breaking the connection, but the creature just stared at him, breathing into his mouth again to counteract the water in his lungs.

Once it was sure Lance was going to live, it disconnected, floating back to where it was. It had the body of a boy, but Lance knew this thing was not human. It was looking at him intently, gazing at Lance with a curious hunger.

Then, it pointed to the surface. It grabbed Lance’s shirt and hauled him up, breaching the water in less than five seconds

It pointed to Lance’s boat, ignoring his shivers and shoulder pain. It looked back at him, then coughed before saying in a throaty, raspy voice;

“Come back tomorrow. No people. Just you.” Then it coughed up a chunk of metal belonging to the hydrophone. “Sorry.”

Then it disappeared, arching forwards into the water. Lance watched it’s long body follow the arch, seeming to trail on forever before it too disappeared.

Pidge was not going to believe this.

* * *

“You got high, didn’t you?” Pidge said flatly. “You dropped acid on the boat and saw some shit, huh?”

“No, Pidge! You have to believe me!” Lance said in a hushed voice. “I saw something out there! It saved me! It looked like a guy but it had this long body...” He trailed off, not able to form words to describe what he saw.

“It pulled me into the water, then rescued me! I don’t think it meant to do the first part-”

“Did you at least get your shoulder looked at?” Pidge asked, eyeing the sling his left arm was in. “You hurt yourself pretty bad-”

“I didn’t hurt myself, that thing did! But like I said, I don’t think it was on purpose...”

“Well, I’m glad you got your data.” Pidge huffed. “Now please never scare me like that again-”

“I’m going back today.” Lance interrupted.

“What?” Pidge hissed. “You almost died out there on some stupid drug trip and you’re gonna do it again!? You’re flushing grant money down the toilet!”

“I need to see him- it, again.” Lance said firmly.

“Then I’m going with you.”

“No, it said to not bring people.”

“How convenient.” Pidge rolled her eyes. “How very, very convenient.”

“Look, I’ll have it sign a postcard or something.” Lance growled, annoyed. “It gave me mouth-to-mouth, too. I found some strange compounds in there when I got back. Nothing dangerous, but does helium-3 exist naturally? I don’t think so.”

“You’re delusional.” Pidge gathered her papers. “Please, _please_ at least call me when you go. And when you get back. And during.”

“I promise I will.”

* * *

 

A human.

Keith had never seen one up close before. He had thought the thing it had rode in was a threat, that the equipment off the sides were weapons. He destroyed them easily, but he had not counting on pulling the human into the water.

He was beautiful. An excellent example of humanity. And, unwittingly, the forefather of First Contact. They needed to meet again, this time on better terms. A scientist, too. The symbols on the sides of the vessel were clearly research emblems of some kind. A perfect partner to start his journey onto land. His time was short. He needed to get what he came here to get, whatever that was. He knew his genetics would lead him down the right path eventually.

He felt bad for destroying the human’s equipment, but he had no choice. He couldn’t die this early on his journey. He provided the human with oxygen and sent him on his way. Hopefully, he would see him again tonight.

Keith was jolted from his thoughts by a salmon swimming nearby. His arm shot out, demolishing the fish and absorbing its biomass instantly.

Survival of the fittest.

* * *

Lance nervous. This felt like a first date. He had rented the same boat, and stopped at the same coordinates as last night. His arm was still in the sling, and he did not throw any equipment into the water this time. Instead, he unfolded his beach chair, sat down, and waited.

He had brought protection this time. A shotgun, a gift from his father, was in his lap. Just in case that thing got handsy.

Hours passed. Then, Lance saw the lights. The undulating lights swerved in a serpentine fashion towards his boat, before disappearing under it.

It was here.

Lance heard a tap on the side of the boat. He leaned over the side brandishing the shotgun.

The boy was there, hands on the boat. Lance could see the lights beneath the surface, belying his true nature.

“Yeah?”

“Come up?” It rasped, throat full of water.

Lance’s eyes widened. It was asking permission.

“Um, sure?”

The thing nodded, its torso rising out of the water immediately and smoothly. It towered over the bow of the boat. Lance got a full view of the thing’s body. The skin was clear, but firm. He could see various organs and such underneath the surface, along with the tell-tale lights on the sides. It all ended at the top, where the boy was.

Lance was equal parts confused and horrified.

Then the thing barreled downwards, landing on the surface of the boat with a loud slapping noise. His body trailed off the edge. He was simply too big to fit onto the deck, so he lay on the wood in front of Lance.

Then it looked at Lance, its red eyes glistening from sea water.

“Hello.” It said, more a formality than an actual greeting.

“Hi.” Lance cocked the shotgun, still unsure of the thing’s intentions. “What are you?”

But the boy-thing did not answer his question. Instead, the eyes locked onto the shotgun.

“Is that… weapon?”

Lance nodded. “Just some insurance.”

“Unneeded.” The thing said. “No harm meant. Just… learning.”

“You didn’t answer my question.” Lance said. “What are you?”

“Unknown.” The boy replied, struggling to prop itself up against it’s own body. “Designation is Keith.”

Lance laughed loudly.

The creature cocked its head. “What?”

“That’s a human name.” He said, still chuckling. “It’s funny.”

“Coincidence.” Then it made a sound that resembled hacking. “Can’t speak. Not enough… memory.” It tapped its head. “Words… few.”

“You don’t know how to speak? How did you learn this much?”

“Pre-programmed...” It coughed again. “In my… me.” It gestured to itself. Lance didn’t really understand what it was saying.

“Is there any way I can help?” Even though it was grotesque, Lance was getting the feeling this creature really did not mean any harm.

“Sample.” It said quietly. “I… learn. From sample.”

“Sample of what?” Lance asked, cocking and eyebrow.

“You.”

Lance’s eyes widened. “Oh, no.” He said, bringing the shotgun around to aim at the creature. “Nice try.”

“No try… just small… sample...” The thing, Keith, was struggling to come up with enough words. It was like he was starting to lag behind. It began crawling towards Lance. “Let me…”

Lance scrambled backwards, knocking over the chair. “Get back! I’ll shot, I swear to God!”

Keith’s hand shot out, enveloping the shotgun in clear flesh before flinging it into the ocean. Then it returned to him, back in the shape of a hand.

“Please… can’t talk… won’t hurt...”

“Don’t _fucking_ touch me!” Lance screamed, pinning himself against the wall. The thing had crawled up to him. It was so close, Keith’s torso was almost pressing against Lance’s. It held up a finger, which elongated into a razor sharp, needle-like appendage.

Lance was shivering. This was how he was going to die. He should never have trusted this thing. He was so stupid!

“Hold… still… not… hurt...” Keith rasped. The needle disappeared behind Lance and he felt a sharp prick at the base of his spine, making him yelp out much louder than the pain warranted.

Then the needle was back in front of him, filled with a small amount of clear fluid. It drained down into Keith’s arm, disappearing. Keith’s eyes locked on to something Lance couldn’t see. Then, his eyes unfocused, becoming normal again.

“That’s so much better.” The thing sighed, pulling away from Lance. His voice was still raspy, but he spoke faster and clearer than before. “Thank you for your contribution.”

“What the hell was that?” Lance shouted. “You just stabbed me!”

“I took some of your cerebral-spinal fluid.” Keith said matter-of-factly. “It helped me acquire your language. I know as much as you do.” It examined it’s needle-like finger, which shrunk and became normal again. “Which is a lot, by the way.”

Lance blushed at the quick compliment, then regained his composure. “Wait, what the fuck are you?”

“I’m happy you asked.” Keith replied. “I don’t know.”

“That’s not a lot of help.” Lance mumbled. “You’re not here to kill or destroy or whatever?”

“No.” Keith said simply. “Not that I know of. I’m just here to learn.”

There was silence for a moment, then Lance felt a shooting pain in his shoulder. His adrenaline was wearing off and he was beginning to feel the strain from his exertion.

“Ah… shit...” He hissed, clutching the sling.

“Are you hurt?” Keith asked, peering closer.

“Yeah, dumbass.” Lance said, not even caring he was insulting some hyper-advanced alien creature. “You dislocated my shoulder last night.”

“Oh.” The response was very simple and flat. Then it was followed by a quieter. “I’m sorry.”

Lance looked at Keith, shocked by the sudden display of humanity. That spinal fluid was working wonders.

Then Keith got close. “May I look?”

Lance eyes the boy-creature nervously. “You’re not gonna pull it all the way off, are you?”

“You can grow them back, can’t you?”

Lance stared at Keith with wide, scared eyes. Then Keith smiled.

“That was a joke.”

“Don’t do that.” Lance sighed, relaxing from his suddenly tense position. “That wasn’t funny.”

“I disagree. Now, let me look...” Keith leaned in, pulling the neck of Lance’s shoulder down. He was very careful not to touch the tender muscle of the injury. “Hm…” He hummed, looking at the shoulder. “It’s not dislocated. It’s separated.”

Lance frowned. “No, I’m pretty sure it’s dislocated. I’m a biologist. I would know.”

“There’s nothing for me to re-locate. Your bone has dislodged from the tendon.” Keith insisted. “It is separated and looks like it has been for several hours.”

“Oh, so now you’re an expert on human biology?” Lance asked. “Is that it?”

“Well, I should know.” Keith tapped his head.

Lance just stared at him. “What… what does that mean?”

“I, uh… I’m not sure either.” Keith answered sheepishly, showing yet another display of human emotion. He rolled over to get a better look at Lance’s shoulder, his tail rolling with him.

“Let me help you-”

“Nope.” Lance interrupted, pulling away. “I’m not letting you tinker with me again. Stay away.”

“You really should. You’ve already done permanent damage.”

Lance’s heart stopped. “What?”

“Don’t you have medical facilities on this planet? Did you visit them?”

“No, what was I supposed to do? Tell them a monster pulled me into the water?”

Keith’s face fell. For the first time since Lance met him, he looked sad.

“I’m not a monster...”

Lance felt a twinge in his chest.

 _Ah, fuck._ He thought. _I made the alien feel bad_.

“Look, that’s not what I meant. And what do you mean by permanent damage?”

“The swelling has ruptured your muscular structure. Even if you went to the hospital, you’d never be able to move your arm the same way again.” Keith reached for the shoulder again. “Unless you let me help.”

Lance weighed his options. Keith seemed to be a nice guy. A creepy fish-alien, but a nice guy. And Lance didn’t exactly have the best medical insurance, not that it would cover something like this.

“Fine.” He said. “But I’m watching you.”

“Excellent!” Keith clapped his hands. “This is so exciting!”

“What, why-” Lance was cut off when Keith’s fingers darted forward and sliced his shoulder open with a clean vertical cut. He started to scream, but he felt no pain. In fact, he was feeling pretty calm about the whole situation.

“You… you cut me...” He sighed. “You said you wouldn’t… wow… I’m dizzy...”

“I shocked your nervous system when I cut you.” Keith said, spreading the skin open and looking inside. “You won’t feel anything when I’m finished, I promise.”

Lance wasn’t even bleeding.

“No.. blood?” He asked, stumbling forward. Keith caught him, lifting him gently down to the wood floor of the boat.

“Heated claws. Cauterization.” He said matter-of-factly. “Now, let me work. You’re free to watch, if you’d like.”

Scientific curiosity was eating Lance alive. He looked over his shoulder to see the wound that wasn’t really a wound, but more like a window into his body. He could see his muscles, his bones, his veins. All perfectly fine and healthy aside from the cut Keith had made.

“Wow...” He whispered, laughing giddily. “That’s so fucking gross...”

Keith’s fingers were repairing damage only he could see, mending arteries and bone. Lance couldn’t get a good view, but it looked like the new material was coming from Keith himself.

After about five minutes, Keith pinched the wound together, dragging another finger up the line and sealing it without even a scar to mark he had been there in the first place.

“There, all better.”

Lance flexed his fingers. His shoulder was perfect. Better than he other arm, even. He tentatively moved it out of the sling, not feeling any pain at all.

“Whoa...” He was amazed. “Thank you.”

“No problem. I caused the damage. I fixed the damage. It was the right thing to do.”

Lance looked up at Keith, still flexing his shoulder. He was taking in the creatures face for the first time. It was… quite handsome, to be completely honest. Lance almost forgot about the miles-long tail that trailed into the ocean.

“Okay, so now what?” He asked, jolting himself from his reverie. “I’m here. What did you want?”

“Oh, yes!” Keith said excitedly, rising up into the air. “I’d like to come onto the land, if I may.”

Lance cocked on eyebrow. “Well, first of all, you don’t need my permission. Second of all, how are you gonna do that with the… the...” He pointed to Keith’s massive serpentine body. “That.”

Keith rolled over, getting a look at Lance from the floor of the boat. “It’s only a matter of time.” He said cryptically. “Can I live with you?”

“Hell no.” Lance said immediately. “I don’t want any part in this. I’m glad I could meet you, and I’m also glad you’re not dangerous-”

“I’m very dangerous.” Keith interrupted. “Just not malicious.”

Lance looked Keith up and down with a concerned face for a moment then continued. “But I… look.” He sighed sadly, running his fingers through his hair. “I’ve got a lot going on right now. Grant work, thesis papers, research… I don’t have time to deal with… all of this.”

“I won’t be any trouble, I promise.” Keith insisted. “I could even help you with your research.”

“Keith, you’re…” He sighed again. “I’m sure you’re a really nice guy, and I’m sorry I can’t help you. But I just can’t-”

“Wait right here.” Keith cut him off, rolling backwards and taking his tail with him as he descended back into the ocean.

“Great, real polite guy.” Lance huffed, collapsing into the lawn chair. Keith’s body had left visible indents on the surface of the floor, and it was glowing from errant luminescent compounds from his lower half.

Lance waited. Checked his phone, looked at the night sky for a bit.

Then Keith erupted out of the water, scaring Lance out of his skin. He fell forward back onto the boat, his arms clutched to his chest.

“Here.” He released his arms. A squid spread out onto the deck of the ship, tentacles moving lazily. It appeared to have been stunned by Keith before he hauled it from the depths. It had bright red coloration.

Lance gasped. “Is that a-”

“Titanic squid, female. Juvenile.” Keith confirmed, nudging the tentacles with a clawed finger. “The first live specimen of it’s kind, I believe?”

“She’s beautiful...” Lance whispered. Then he realized that time was short. “Hold on, let me get the collection box-”

“Not so fast.” Keith said, moving over the squid protectively. “Let’s…” He paused for a moment, scanning his brain for the right words. “Cut a deal.”

Lance’s expression flattened. He should’ve known.

“Alright. Go for it.”

“I provide extremely rare marine life for research, you provide living space.” Keith said simply.

Lance pondered the proposition for a moment. He could be famous. Rich, even. But most importantly, Keith could circumvent his fear of the ocean and do the sample collection for him.

Downside was that he’d be housing an alien.

Reluctantly, Lance nodded. “Okay, fine.” He said. “But we’re gonna have to lay down some ground rules- ah!” Lance squeaked, seeing the squid flail for life-giving water. “I’ll be right back!”

Before long, Lance had bundled the squid into the safety of the aquatic collection tank.

“I’m glad to help.” Keith said, smiling and baring his sharp teeth. “Meet me here at the same time tomorrow.”

“Ugh.” Lance groaned. These boat rentals were getting expensive. “Can’t you just come with me now?”

Keith shook his head. “I have some adjusting to do.” Then he slithered backwards, falling off the side of the boat. He clung on by his razor-sharp nails. Lance leaned over to see his smiling face.

“See you tomorrow.”

Then he let go, disappearing into the deep ocean.


	2. Chapter 2

Keith hadn’t felt this excited since… since, well ever. He’d only been alive for a little over a month at this point, so clearly he lacked a frame of reference. He lay in the water of the bay, circling slowly in the lazy current.

His tail had grown much, much shorter since he saw Lance last night. What a nice name. Lance. One syllable. Consonant, vowel, consonant. Nice and easy to say.

But the shortening tail was a sign of his ‘adjustments’. If he were to live on land, he had to equip himself with the proper tools. Realign his biomass into something less… aquatic. Truthfully, part of him would miss the weightlessness of the water and the carefree abandon it gave him in regards to allocation of resources: He didn’t need to compensate for gravity or stumbling or any land-related things.

He sighed, bubbles exiting his mouth and traveling to the surface. It had to be done. Progress is stronger than suffering.

But this all led back to one question: What _was_ he? He wasn’t a human or any other species humans know about. Lance had called him a monster, which he knew also wasn’t true.

He had landed in the ocean a few weeks ago, but he was barely a single cell back then. He grew, adapted, and became what he is now. He had a job to do. Yet, he couldn’t quite figure out what that was. He also knew he wasn’t from this world: a foreign body, an invasive species.

Some would call him a parasite.

He shoved that idea out of his mind. Parasites harm. He is not harming. He is… existing. He could definitely become a parasite if he willed it, but that would be a last resort. He was beginning to enjoy this existence. Sentience, anthropomorphism. He had started examining himself in shiny rocks near the shore, to make sure his face was perfect.

If anything was even slightly off, like the way he talked, how far apart his eyes were, the shape of his mouth, people would be unnerved by him. He had to get it right.

It was easy to sculpt his flesh. After all, that was his defining trait.

The absence of identity. Of solidity. He could potentially become anything, given enough time and biomass. If he could think it, he could become it.

It was poetic, he realized. To be nothing, but something. Perhaps everything? Philosophy was something he had just learned three days ago, and it was giving him pause on many things.

Where was this all going? Despite his attempts to have a positive outlook, he had a sinking feeling that his presence on this planet was the harbinger of something terrible.

Then he thought about Lance. Although he had been scared of Keith before, he had eventually shown the first act of kindness Keith had experienced. He knew of altruism, animals indulged in it all the time.

He enjoyed receiving it. If the meaning of life is to survive, and harboring Keith would put Lance’s survival at risk, then why was he doing it? _That_ is what makes humans so special.

Besides, Keith found Lance very… calming. There was just something about him that set him at ease.

Keith remembered back when he had first become multi-cellular. Barely, but he had vague imprints from when he had gained a neural net and began exploring.

His attempts at securing a partnership with local fauna had been failures. He had proposed symbiotic relationships to many species, but they had all gone very awry. Of course, that was symbiosis on a biological level, which requires mutual effort from both parties and is of a far more… visceral nature.

Perhaps this relationship with Lance could become symbiotic? Do humans practice symbiosis?

Jolted from his thoughts, Keith saw the sun was beginning to set. He had to hurry and finish his modifications before Lance arrived.

* * *

True to his word, Lance arrived at the coordinates one last time. Again, he heard the tapping of Keith on the side of the boat. Lance leaned over to see the face of the alien he had been seeing for three days now.

“Hello.” Keith said quietly. “Can I have some help?”

Lance cocked his head. “I thought you could come up yourself?”

“That may have been true last night, but… I made some changes.” Keith sounded slightly embarrassed.

Lance sighed and looked around for the ladder, finding it and tossing it over the side. Soon, Keith emerged over the side of the boat. Lance’s eyes widened. He no longer had the terrifying long serpentine body. Now, he had… well, a normal body. Very pale and lean, with pronounced musculature.

Carefully, Keith stepped onto the floor of the ship, immediately losing his balance and falling over onto the wood.

“Ow...” He said. “Never done this before.”

Lance was still in shock. “How did you- But you had- The tail?”

Keith nodded as he tried to right himself. “I did have that old body plan. I have since adapted myself better for life on land.” He wobbled as he stood, gripping the side of the ship for balance. “I still have some remnants left over but I can remove those later.”

“You… adapted?”

“Yes- whoa!” Keith stumbled again, falling forward. But he didn’t land on the floor this time.

Lance had caught him. Keith’s skin was cold and wet, but Lance could feel a pulse within. A very irregular and inhuman pulse, but a pulse. He felt Keith’s long black hair, slap against his shirt, trailing water down his clothing.

Awkwardly, Lance released Keith, who did not seem to share his uneasiness.

“Thank you.” Keith said curtly. “I am still becoming accustomed to legs.”

Lance looked Keith up and down again, then reeled back when he realized something.

“You’re _**naked**_!!”

* * *

A quick change of clothes in the boat’s restroom allowed Lance to lead Keith to his apartment. It was right on the beach, next to the marine institute. It had cost a pretty penny, but Lance lumped it under ‘research costs’ and the grant money paid for it all.

The small cabana was very comfortable-looking in the dark, overlooking the waves. Lance regretted not being able to spend more time inside due to work at… well, Keith.

He fumbled for his keys, sliding them into the doorknob. Keith marveled behind him, trailing his hands down the wood of the porch.

“Amazing...”

“You said that about sand, too.”

“Everything’s so different up here...” To emphasize his point, Keith inhaled deeply. “It’s so much easier to breathe, too.”

Lance ignored Keith’s peculiar behavior, opening the door and stepping inside to turn on the light. A wrap-around fish tank ringed a curving couch, which sat in front of a large T.V. The kitchen was simple, just a counter and an island. To the right was the master bedroom and the bathroom.“It’s not big, but there’s room for you in the living-”

He was interrupted by what sounded like a squeak of delight from Keith, who had plastered his face against the fishtank.

“What is _this_?” He asked, watching the fish from within.

Lance stared, confused. “It’s… a fish tank.”

“You have the ocean _in your home_?” He asked, amazed. “Did I even have to change at all-”

“Yes!” Lance interrupted, nipping this problem in the bud. “Yes, yes, you absolutely had too! We- I don’t have any aquariums big enough to house you.”

“And what’s this?” Keith asked, leaning around the side of the tank.

“That’s a couch.”

“Ohhhh...” Keith walked around, touching it tenderly with his hand. “What-”

“You sit on it.” Lance said, knowing exactly what he was going to ask. “It’s for comfort.”

“Comfort.” Keith repeated the word. “It’s not required?”

Lance shook his head. “Well, no. But it’s preferred.”

“Amazing.” Keith plopped himself down on the couch, giggling to himself. “It’s soft.”

“I’m glad you like it, because that’s where you’ll be sleeping.” Lance said, turning to the kitchen.

“I don’t sleep.”

Lance froze for a moment, unnerved, before continuing to the fridge. He had a very sudden thought of Keith prowling his house at night, tentacles undulating, before he made his way to Lance’s bedroom while he slept and-

“What is that?” Keith interrupted the horrifying thought. Lance had opened the fridge, prompting the question.

“It’s for food storage.” Lance replied, shoving the intrusive thought away. “I’m getting a drink.” He pulled a chilled bottle of wine out of the fridge. He needed a little alcohol if he was going to adjust to this. He popped the cork, making Keith come over in curiosity.

He sniffed the bottle’s opening.

“Alcohol?” He asked. “It’s not cold out. Why would you need to introduce that to your body?”

“It’s not for thermo-regulation, it’s for enjoyment.” Lance said, pouring himself a glass. Then, he looked at Keith. “Can you… can you even have this?”

“I don’t understand.” Keith was examining the label. “This is toxic. Why are you drinking it?”

Lance sighed, taking the bottle from Keith’s hand. He needed to speak Keith’s language. “What is the toxic-processing organ in the human body?”

“The liver.”

“What does alcohol turn into when it’s processed by the liver?”

“Ethanol.”

“What does ethanol do to your brain?”

Keith pondered this for a moment, then he understood.

“Voluntary sedation… for enjoyment?” He asked, confused in an entirely different way now.

Lance shrugged. “Don’t knock it ‘till you try it.”

Keith shook his head sadly. “I can’t drink that.”

Lance looked at Keith over his glass as he drank. “Why not? I thought you were, like, a super-alien or something?”

“Alcohol will make my body inhospitable to cellular division. I won’t be able to adapt until it’s out of my system.”

Lance shrugged. “Hey, I offered. It’s polite. I performed my social obligation.” Then he downed the entire glass, feeling the effect immediately.

“So…” He asked, running a finger along the rim of the glass. “You promise you won’t eat me while I sleep?”

Keith looked hurt for a moment and didn’t respond.

Lance straightened, realizing his mistake. “Ah, shit. I’m sorry, I didn’t mean it-”

“I won’t, I promise.” Keith said. “Especially not if you’re drinking that.”

Lance laughed at that. He was feeling light-headed. He had definitely had too much.

“So you don’t sleep, huh? What will you do while I’m asleep?”

Keith cocked his head. “I’m, uh… not exactly sure.”

“I’ll show you how to work the T.V.”

* * *

Lance fell asleep as soon as he hit the covers. He had given the remote to Keith and explained how to operate it. Of course, the alien was amazed. He was immediately riveted, turning through channel after channel. But Lance was too tired to enjoy the sight. Besides, he had drunk too much to stay awake anyway.

“ _But mommy, I want them now!”_

_Small hands reached up to grab at a woman’s skirt. She bent down to the hand’s owners. Her face was kind, but weathered._

“ _Not yet, sweetie. You’ll have to wait.”_

“ _But I don’t wanna wait! I want them now!”_

_The woman laughed quietly, grabbing the hands in her own._

“ _Good things come to those who want, sweetie. They’ll taster even better, I promise.”_

_The boy huffed, pouting loudly._

“ _Okay, but I won’t like it...”_

_A loud bang sounded through the house, startling the woman._

“ _That must be your father.” Her voice was suddenly stern. There was more banging coming from the foyer of the house._

“ _He’s had a bad day...” She said quietly. Then she looked at the boy. “Go upstairs, honey. Don’t come down until I say the cookies are ready, okay? Build me something from your Legos.”_

_The boy perked up immediately. “Okay, mommy!” He began wandering upstairs._

_He’d build her a rocketship. Or maybe something like a house? All he knew is that mommy loved his rocketships._

 

_I can’t see, but I can feel. Roots spread out over miles and miles, feeling this planet’s life and energy. All of the thick, sinuous vines led to one base, an enormous petaled maw that sat open in the light of the three Suns. A sweet aroma wafted from the petals, enticing small creatures into it._

_They never left. It was a solitary existence, punctuated by eating. Wilting when it got cold, flowering when it was warm. Never moving from this one spot._

_I am old. Older than numbers can count. I’ve watched strange wolf-like creatures give birth, die, then watched their children give birth._

_What does this mean? This can’t be it. I can feel the core of this world, the flow, the potential. They live, they die, they fight._

_They love._

_But time passes inevitably onward. Soon, there are no more wolf-creatures. They are replaced by a feline species. Then that is replaced by avians. Then reptiles. Thousands of years become tens of thousands. Those become a million._

_Then it all changed._

_Something happened. One of the species had discovered sentience. Co-existence. Tool building, society. A red-skinned, vaguely humanoid race with strong arms and legs to navigate the cliffs and forests of this hostile world._

_They knew of me. I could not see them, but I could feel them. They were afraid. They knew that I would consume them. Destroy their bodies and add them to my own._

_So they killed me. They sacrificed one of their own to my massive maw, then felled me with an enormous axe._

_But I had no form. Inside my body, I housed a seed. A tiny parcel of genetic material, just as big as a cell. With my last ounce of energy, I poured myself into this seed and shot it into space._

_I would find a new world. I would adapt, overcome, survive. Just as I had before this world, just as I will after._

 

Lance woke up with a snort. He immediately felt the effects of a hangover crush his thoughts, making him groan loudly.

“Ugh...”

He hadn’t had a dream about her in… years, almost. It must’ve been the wine, making him feel things he had forgotten about for a long time. He sighed, rubbing his temples. His muscles ached. He slept in an awkward position.

He heard the T.V still playing in the living room.

And sure enough, Keith was still there. In exactly the same spot as before.

“Good morning.” Lance said as he shuffled past the couch and aquariums.

“Good morning.” Keith responded, not looking away from the T.V. “How did you sleep?”

“Fine.” Lance lied. He had a feeling Keith knew something was wrong. After all, he was some sort of… bio-empathic alien. But what about the second part of his dream? That must’ve been just… a regular crazy dream. He’d had weirder, to be honest.

He had deposited the female squid Keith had given him at the research lab the night he had received it. And now, he was receiving calls from various professors and researchers, all eager to look and study the rare creature.

He would have some difficult questions to answer. He’d just say he was deep-sea trawling for mineral samples and just happened upon-

An extremely loud growl interrupted his thoughts. He looked at Keith from over the counter.

“Was that you?”

“I am hungry.” Keith responded. “But I didn’t want to impose on-”

“Come over here and eat.” Lance said, upset he hadn’t thought of Keith’s dietary needs sooner. His mother always said that guests should always be full, no matter what. Keith sat at a stool on the other side of the counter.

Lance looked at him. Those red eyes just seemed to stare right through him.

“Um… what can you eat?”

“Anything.” Keith replied simply. “But I favor meats.”

Lance frowned. “Did you pick up a better speech pattern from the T.V at all?”

Keith nodded. “I’m working on becoming more personable. I’d like to fit in as much as possible.”

“...right.” Lance said warily. “So, meat huh?” He opened the fridge. “Is bacon alright?”

“What is it made from?”

“Pigs.”

“Yes."

"I thought you could eat anything?”

Keith pulled a strange face. “I can. But it’s not actually eating. Eating implies I’m dissolving something to it’s base components and converting that from potential energy to kinetic. What I do is more akin to phagocytosis.”

Lance immediately remembered Pidge looking at microbes underneath her microscope and thought of how amoebas eat.

Then he remembered how Keith removed his shotgun, by crushing it in a pseudopod made from his own flesh.

Every moment he spent with Keith just reminded him of how truly alien he was. He may look human and act human, but he was definitely not human.

“Do I even need to cook it?” Lance asked, almost sarcastically.

“I’d prefer it.”

Lance was taken aback. Keith saw his expression and continued.

“I’ll need to get used to cooked food, anyway. It’s just convenience.”

Keith placed his elbows on the counter. There were still traces of his previous form on his arms, small scales and ridges running along them.

There was silence for a moment while Lance began cooking the bacon in a frying pan. Then Keith spoke.

“I watched a lot of media.” He said. “I also went through your DVR.”

Lance could’ve slammed his face into the stove. “I hope you enjoyed 25 episodes of _The Golden Girls_ , because-”

“I did, actually.” Keith interrupted. “Those members of your species have lived a full life. It’s comforting.”

Lance cocked an eyebrow. “Not the response I was expecting.”

“Were you expecting me to hate it?”

He did not have an answer. Instead, he just placed a plate in front of Keith.

“Here you go.” Lance said, sitting down across from Keith. “Eat up.”

He began eating his own plate, before he noticed Keith was having… difficulty.

The alien had grabbed a piece of bacon and was attempting to properly chew it, but was unsuccessful.

“Keith, buddy-”

“I’ve never used a mouth to eat before.” Keith explained, sounding more embarrassed and human than Lance had ever heard. “I don’t… know how to chew.”

Lance began laughing before he took a piece himself. “Like this.” He began chewing the bacon with exaggerated motions so Keith would understand. “See?”

Keith examined him closely. Then he said simply, “I lack molars.”

Then he opened his mouth wide, revealing that he did not have a normal set of teeth. Instead, he had nothing but rows and rows of sharp incisors that ringed his mouth and throat.

Lance stopped laughing immediately, his heart dropping into his stomach.

Then Keith closed his mouth with a loud snap.

“Give me a second.” He made a strange motion with his mouth, as if he were chewing, but Lance could hear a disturbing sound coming from within. It sounded like bones were cracking and moving.

Lance drew back from Keith, horrified, but Keith didn’t seem to notice.

Then he smiled happily, the picture of innocence, and opened his mouth again. The incisors were gone. Now his mouth looked… normal. As if it was never a terrifying maw of destruction in the first place.

Then he popped the bacon into his mouth and began chewing, still smiling happily.

Lance stood up fully, straightening himself up as he recovered from what he had just seen.

“Please, don’t do that in front of me again.” He said calmly, although he was shaking.

Keith’s smiled saddened as he realized what he had done. “Oh. Right. I’m sorry.”

“People will kill you if they see that shit, man.” Lance continued, still not over the situation.

The dark-haired boy’s expression fell even more. “I have to adapt faster, then.”

Although Lance was rocked by the experience, he was beginning to feel like he was constantly hurting Keith’s… feelings? Did he have feelings?

_Of course he did. He just sat through 25 episodes of The Golden Girls! He fixed your shoulder!_

“It’s okay. It’s just… you’ve got to be more careful. People won’t understand. They’ll think you’re danger-” He cut himself off. “I know your dangerous, but you’re not-”

Lance hated this. He didn’t even know what to say about Keith, let alone how to explain things to him.

He sighed loudly, holding his head in his hands.

Keith looked at him for a moment. “I’ve made you upset.”

“No, it’s-” Lance looked up to see Keith staring at him, concerned. He probably shouldn’t lie to him if he was going to figure this out.

“Yes, yes you did. But it’s okay! I’ll get over it.” Lance corrected. He could salvage this. He could deal with this. “You’ve just got to be more careful.”

“Okay, I will.” Keith said forlornly. Then he looked at Lance, those red eyes piercing through him like a knife.

Lance smiled awkwardly. “Are we cool?”

“We’re cool.”

“Okay, good.” Lance sat back down and began eating again.

* * *

 _You better have a good reason, Lance._ Pidge’s voice was angry as she berated him through the cellphone.

_I can’t keep covering your fucking ass. Paperwork is piling up, that squid is really popular-_

“Pidge, I promise I’ll make it up to you. I just...” He looked over the aquarium at Keith, who had eaten his weight in bacon. “I just have a lot to deal with right now.”

He heard a static-y sigh come from the phone.

_Fine. But you’re taking me out after work tomorrow._

“Deal.”

She hung up immediately, leaving Lance alone with Keith again. Lance leaned around the aquarium, trying to sneak a peak and Keith while he watched T.V and digested his meal.

He had to admit, he was pretty cute. Being able to choose your appearance really helped in the looks department. He never noticed how fluffy his hair looked from behind.

If Lance didn’t know his true nature, he would’ve had a crush on him. But as it stood now, he knew what was right beneath the surface.

“You called off work?” Keith asked, turning around on the couch. “Why?”

Lance gestured to Keith. “I’ve got bigger things to deal with. What’s your plan, anyway?”

“I don’t have a plan. I don’t even know what I am.”

“That makes two of us.” Lance huffed, rounding the couch and sitting on it a few feet away from Keith.

A movie was playing. Keith had figure out Netflix, apparently. Lance was familiar with the film, but couldn’t recall the name. Something about a man falling in love with his computer or whatever. It was a stupid movie.

* * *

Night had fallen. Aside from the strange mouth-incident, no other unusual things happened with Keith. Keith had not moved from the T.V. He had said he was absorbing as much information as he could through this ‘platform’ before he could start to act and sound more human.

Lance didn’t care. He was tired. If watching T.V all day made him happy, then that was fine.

But before Lance could begin to start his nightly rituals, Keith stood from the couch. “I am going to try sleeping.”

Lance cocked an eyebrow. “Okay. Have fun.” He said flatly. Sleep-fatigue was starting to make him crabby.

“Can you show me how?”

Lance wanted to scream, but he didn’t. He shoved that feeling down inside and instead thought of what his mother would do:

She would smile, and think about how much he needed her right now.

And Keith did need him. For some things.

For now.

“Okay.” Lance said calmly. He walked back to the couch. “Just… close your eyes and relax. Don’t think about anything.”

“But won’t that leave me open to preda-”

“There are no predators in this house.” Lance cut him off. “You’re safe. So just… relax. That’s it. Eventually, you’ll fall asleep. Or something. I don’t know your biology.”

Keith fidgeted. For the first time since meeting him, he looked uncomfortable. “I don’t know if I can do that…” He shifted nervously. “What if something comes inside? I won’t be able to defend myself.”

“This is not a hostile world, Keith. I don’t know where you come from, but this is Earth. Sleeping is fine. Nothing will hurt you.”

“Will you watch me?” He asked, looking at Lance. But this time, the eyes did not pierce. They pleaded.

Lance sighed. “Fine. But only for a little bit.”

“Thank you!” Keith squeaked happily, shuffling and rearranging the blankets on the bed into a vague nest-shape. “Okay, so I’m gonna try it now. Here goes.”

Then he stopped moving and talking completely. It was almost like a switch had been flipped.

True to his word, Lance watched over him. Partly to keep his promise, partly because he was afraid that sleeping would cause a bizarre change in Keith’s biology, like he would start sprouting tentacles or just devour the whole living room.

But nothing happened. He did start snoring, though. That made Lance laugh quietly.

He looked so… normal like this. He just looked like a regular boy. Sleeping like a human would.

Lance had to sleep as well, though. So he stood up, casting one last look at Keith before heading to his own room and going to bed.

* * *

Keith dreamt in impressions. Thoughts and feelings, but not images. Neurons connecting, disconnecting. Matter rearranging into new forms before evaporating instantly.

Lance did not like him, he was sure. He was uncomfortable around him.

But he liked Lance.

He liked Lance a lot. He wasn't sure what to do about this. He had never gotten attached to things in the ocean or when he was smaller. If he needed something, like a rock or tool, he would either store it in his body or adapt something new. 

But Lance was different. He was human, and he was Keith's only window into a life that wasn't his own. A series of reactions and complex motions that were similar but different from Keith's. A whole new cosmos, just feet away.

He would have to become more human if he were to find meaning.

 


	3. Chapter 3

Keith woke up slowly, crawling out of his strange mindset. It was still night, he must’ve been asleep for only a couple of hours.

He liked sleeping. He could see himself doing more of it. It helped him disconnect from his current view and just… exist. He hadn’t felt like that since he was a simpler organism, free-floating in the ocean tides.

He turned on the T.V, the channel setting itself to the DVR and playing an episode of The Golden Girls from the beginning. He listened to music.

_Thank you for being a friend..._

He was finding it difficult to absorb information in this strange twilight state between sleep and wake. His mind was fuzzy, everything was somehow not real. Is that why humans enjoy it so much?

_You would see the biggest gift would be from me…_

He adored Lance, loved watching him move and eat and just… exist. And it wasn’t in the usual way. Normally, he’d admire his body, or his evolutionary traits, or his survival rate. But… he just liked Lance because he was Lance.

_And the card attached would say…_

He wanted Lance. In… a way he couldn’t describe yet. He was sure this was a normal thought. For humans, anyway. He did not have the words or experience to quantify this.

_Thank you for being a friend…_

But now he was awake. He wanted to go outside, feel the sand in his toes, look at the moon. Things he didn’t appreciate when he was in the ocean.

So he did.

Quietly, he opened the porch door, stepping off onto the sand and began walking down the dark beach. Occasionally, he felt a crab touch his toe and scuttle off, afraid of his taller stature. He always admired arthropods: simple bodyplan, nice layout for eating and fighting. And the colors. He loved orange ones the most. What a daring color for evolution to pick for such a diminutive creature.

He had briefly considered adopting an armored body like the crab, but decided against it.

He didn’t like the idea of molting, it left him vulnerable to predators.

But he had just slept. That made him vulnerable, right? And he hadn’t died or been attacked.

And Lance seemed to like sleeping… and he’s still alive.

Perhaps it was okay to be a little vulnerable?

He had walked clear across the beach, away from the city. It was even darker here. Quiet, too. No crabs. There weren’t any scraps for them to feed on here. Just a large sea wall extending out into the bay, blocking access to the rougher parts of the beach.

This was nice. He liked the breezy air, the moonlight. It was all so inconsequential, but that was what made the whole greater than the sum of it’s part.

Beauty fades, and that’s what makes it beautiful.

He had been watching a lot of T.V. A lot of media was about love or romance. Connection between humans. They craved it above all else.

He wanted it, too. But… could he ever have it? He was not human, and Lance knew that. Lance was, in fact, painfully aware of it.

He knew Lance was attracted to him. There was very little Lance could hide from him. He was off-put by his… more alien mannerisms, but the rest of Keith was very agreeable to his human friend.

He made an executive decision.

* * *

_Look beyond yourself. Step back, then look again. What do you see?_

_The laws of nature sustain us. They cannot be broken. They cannot be bent. All things, great and small, must abide by them._

_Another creature, this one much more human than the last, sat cross-legged in the twilight. His bare orange chest was glowing with yellow symbols and lines. His eyes were closed. He was meditating._

_I arrived on this planet only one-hundred years ago, and my time is already up. The brevity of life is something I have learned to appreciate._

_One-hundred years exactly. Not an arbitrary choice, of course. I have become a God to these people. They pray, worship, and love me. But I must leave them, for stagnation is not what I was made for._

_I was made to learn. To grow, change, evolve. I have protected them as much as I can; now, they must fend for themselves._

_A small seed of genetic material glowed in my stomach: A parcel of myself I would send into space so that I would be reborn anew._

_My followers circled around me, eager for my next declaration, the next miracle I would perform for them. Would I heal their sick, or would I provide succulent meats for their next feast? They adored me, and I adored them._

_I readied myself for the transition, ready to become nothing once more._

_But as I stood on the edge of this world, the very precipice of non-existence, I found myself unable to cross over._

“ _Do not leave...” One of them whispered. “We need you...”_

_A stirring in my heart, a rush of blood to my brain. They did need me. And I needed them._

_Perhaps another hundred years couldn’t hurt._

* * *

“ _I hate you!” A young boy yelled at his weary mother. “I hate you! You never let me do anything!”_

“ _I am keeping you safe!” The woman yelled back. “You are not old enough yet, Lance!”_

“ _I’m 14! That’s old enough!”_

“ _No, it’s not!”_

“ _Dad would let me!”_

_Silence broke out over the yelling. The boy had hurt his mother terribly._

“ _He’s not here anymore.” She said shakily. “And that is for the best. Go to your room.”_

“ _But-”_

“ _ **Now**_ _!”_

_The boy ran, scared by his mother’s volume. He ran to his bedroom, throwing open the door. But there was someone already in his bed. It was…_

* * *

Lance woke up to a sound at his bedroom door. He had seen… himself sleeping in his bed.

“Ugh… wha?”

Keith was standing there, an imposing figure in the dark. Lance sat straight immediately, afraid that the alien was going to do something horrible.

But instead, Keith asked,

“May I come in?”

“Uh…” Lance relaxed. “Yeah, sure.”

Keith stepped in, but said nothing.

“How was sleeping for the first time?” Lance asked groggily.

“Transcendent.” He answered, placing himself at the foot of Lance’s bed. “I went for a walk. I thought about things.

“That’s nice.” Lance said, a little confused by the answer. “But, I have to go to bed. I’ve got work-”

“Wait.” Keith interrupted. “I know you’re afraid of me. I don’t want you to be.”

Then he dropped his shorts.

Lance gasped, pulling back up against the headboard.

“Whaaaaat are you doing?” He asked, his fears rekindled.

“I want to try something. Something I saw on T.V.” Keith answered, crawling up onto the bed against Lance’s sputtering protests. He took off his shirt, discarding it on the floor.

“I won’t hurt you, I promise.” He said quietly.

“Keith, this is definitely not what you think it is!” Lance hissed, trying to roll out from under Keith.

“Wait, wait!” Keith said a little too loudly. “I can- hold on. I can try something.”

He placed his knees on either side of Lance’s hips, the blanket separating the two naked bodies.

“Do you like blondes?” Keith asked. “I can do blonde, look.” A ripple rolled up his body, but nothing changed until it reached his hair, black locks shifting into a golden yellow. “See? Is that better?”

Lance’s mouth was agape.

“Wha-”

“I can do more musculature, too. Or maybe a celebrity?”

Lance understood what was happening, now.

“Keith, I-”

“Wait, wait, what about skinnier, I can do-”

“No, that’s-”

“Girls? Did you want a-”

“Stop.”

“But I can do whatever you-”

“I said stop!” Lance yelled, startling Keith. Lance sighed wearily, pulling the blankets up to cover his chest. “ _Fuck_...” He whispered.

Keith pulled off of the bed, withdrawing to the foot of it again.

“I’m sorry.” He said quietly, hair changing back to black. “I thought this is something humans did-”

“This is something humans do.” Lance said. “But it’s not… it’s not that simple. It’s not just… a thing you do. It’s special.”

“Animals do it all the time-”

“We’re not like them, Keith.” Lance said simply. “And… I don’t know...” He was very, very conflicted. He was attracted to Keith, yeah. But he knew that at a moment’s notice he could become something absolutely terrifying and incomprehensible. And that was preventing him from truly connecting with him.

“You’re still afraid of me.” Keith said, sensing Lance’s trepidation. “You think I’m going to hurt you.”

Lance said nothing. Keith had hit it on the head.

“I’m just trying to figure out what-” He stopped. There was a better word for this. “I’m trying to figure out _who_ I am.”

“You’re scary, Keith.” Lance said quietly. “You’re very, very scary.”

“But I can change! I can look however you want-”

“That’s not the point.”

“I thought it would help-”

“It’s not that simple.”

“Then tell me what to do!”

For the first time, Keith had raised his voice. Lance had known him for a week now, and never had he gotten this loud.

He looked so sad. Scared, afraid.

Alone.

He was alone. The only one of his kind, as far as he knew.

He hadn’t done anything to hurt Lance, at least not on purpose. Lance was holding on to things Keith couldn’t control. He may not be human, but he was sure as hell acting like one right now.

Lance sighed again.

“Okay, okay. Fine. Stop being sad, I hate it when people are sad.”

“I’m not sa-”

“Yes, you are.” Lance cut him off, expecting an ‘I’m not sad, just confused’.

Lance beckoned with a finger. “Come here.”

Silently, Keith came to the edge of the bed. Lance moved over, making a spot on the bed for him.

“Lay down with me.”

Confused, Keith did. Slowly lowering himself onto the soft material, he felt Lance throw the blanket over him.

“It can be simpler things. Just being together is enough sometimes, okay? You don’t have to take things so fast.” Lance said. “I know you’re not going to hurt me. You would’ve if you wanted to, by now. You’re just… different. And humans are afraid of different things- different people.” Lance corrected himself.

“I’m so confused.” Keith said. “So many stimuli, not enough responses.”

“Not every stimulus needs a response.”

“It doesn’t feel like that...”

Lance sighed, but it wasn’t a tired sound. “I’ve been having this weird dreams since you showed up. Dreams about my past, and some, well, some unrelated ones.

“I am affecting your mental state.”

“Yes, immensely.”

“Is that… good?”

Lance shrugged. “Only time will tell, I suppose.”

Keith said nothing, but pulled more of the covers around himself.

“Let’s try something.” Lance said. “I’ll ask a question, you ask a question.” They were not facing each other, but he felt closer to Keith now than ever before. “Okay?”

“Okay.”

“How old are you?”

“2 months and 3 days exactly.” Keith answered. “How old are you?”

“Twenty-one. Wait, you’re only 2 months old?”

“Yes. Well… I have instinct and genetics from much longer than that. But, I guess I’ve only been on Earth for 2 months? I don’t know-”

“Okay, okay.” Lance cut him off. They were both getting confused. “What can you do?”

“What can I do?” Keith asked, sounding confused still.

“What are your… abilities?”

Keith rolled over to face Lance’s back. He could feel his eyes boring through his spine.

“I can become anything I want.” He said simply. “Does that scare you?”

Lance nodded. He felt like the air was being sucked out of him.

“Yes.” He whispered. “Yes, it does.” Then he gulped, forcing himself to relax. “What are you feeling right now?”

Keith looked away, down the length of the bed.

“Scared. Confused. Lost. But mostly… lonely, I guess. It’s difficult for me to quantify-”

“It’s okay for you to feel things, Keith. It’s fine.” Lance assured him, interrupting the overly scientific explanation.

There was a moment of silence before Keith took his turn.

“How long ago did you lose your mother?”

Lance stiffened for a moment, more shocked by the casual nature of the question than the sensitive topic. But, he answered anyway.

“Six years ago. How did you know that?”

“I don’t know. She wasn’t in the sample I took on the boat. I just… felt that.”

“Do you have a mother, Keith?”

“No. Not that I know of. Do you miss her?”

“Every day.”

Another moment of silence before Lance spoke this time.

“Do you like me?”

“Yes. Do you like me?”

Lance hesitated for a brief second before answering. “Yes.”

“Good.” Keith sighed, as if he were holding his breath. “That makes me feel… better.”

Lance thought about his next question for a moment. “What do you want?”

Keith did not answer immediately, instead shifting around uncomfortably. “I don’t know.”

“Hm...” Lance hummed, thinking to himself. “What do you think you want?” He was learning how to speak to Keith, bypass this strange walls the alien had built around his own mind.

“I think I want… to make love to you.”

Even thought Lance knew, it still made him feel a wide range of emotions when he heard Keith say it. Anger, happiness, discomfort.

“Do you know what love is?” It wasn’t an insult, simply a question. Did Keith know what love is, or was he just trying to fill in a checkbox on his evolution chart?

“I don’t think so… but I want to know.”

“You’ve been watching too much T.V.’

“Perhaps.” Keith said quietly. Then, even quieter, he asked, “Will you let me?”

Lance swallowed with difficulty. Would he? He really wanted to, but… but this was not a human. This was something pretending to be a human. Keith was trying. He really, really was. Was trying to be human enough? What was a human, anyway? Was it a species? Or was it a state of mind?”

Slowly, very very slowly, Lance asked, “Do you know how?”

“No.” Keith said, just as slowly. “I never tried...”

“Then…not yet.” Lance rolled over to face Keith, who had a concerned, but not scared, look on his face. “Not tonight.”

“Okay.” Keith’s face fell imperceptibly. “I understand.”

Then he stood soundlessly, gently moving the covers off of him before walking to the doorway. He mumbled a very quiet, “Good night,” and then he was gone, leaving Lance with his own thoughts.

* * *

Keith stared at the back off his hand as he lay on the sand of the beach. He inspected the pale skin, the creases, the wrinkles. Every cell was in his control. He flicked it casually, elongated his fingers into strange, thin claws. He clenched the fist, bringing them back to normal length, but when he opened them they were webbed with a translucent membrane.

He sighed, waving his hand to return it to its human state. What was the point of all of this? He could be anything he wanted to be. But he didn’t want to be anything. He just wanted to… be.

He was feeling something new. He had become accustomed to happiness and fear. Simple positive and negative he could fit into his world. Happiness is good. That means you did something good. You caught your prey or avoided being eater yourself.

Fear was bad. That meant your life was in danger, and you must do something to change the situation as quickly as possible.

But Keith was feeling neither of those.

Like he told Lance, he was experiencing emotions he had no idea how to quantify.

He was… sad. Sad that Lance didn’t understand his feelings. Or maybe he was sad he didn’t understand Lance?

He was scared, but not fearful. His life wasn’t in danger of ending, it was in danger of being meaningless, which frightened Keith far more than death ever could.

He was…

He was angry. He was angry at Lance, at humans, at the world. All of the creatures in the ocean mocked him with their simple lives, their structured worlds, their easy-to-complete goals. He had nothing. Infinite potential, but aimless, like a wave or cloud.

What could he do? What was there to do?

Perhaps he could start over. Abandon this life and become something different. Maybe an avian this time, or a reptile. Something non-sentient.

But would Lance miss him? Would he even care?

Just being near Keith was changing the human’s mental landscape.

Keith stood, edging closer to the lapping waves. As one crashed and the remnants of the water slide up the beach, he saw his face in the reflection before it receded.

Another set of conflicting emotions washed over him.

He didn’t want to deal with any of them.

So he returned back to Lance’s house, opening the porch door and stepping into the living room quietly so as not to wake the sleeping human.

Then, he tried to sleep again.

* * *

_A family is gathered around the dining room table. A boy descends from the stair case, confused at the sudden influx of people._

“ _What’s going on, Auntie?” He asked, stepping into the kitchen._

_His mother was there, her smile older but not lesser. She was holding on to her sister’s hand tightly as she looked at the boy for a second, then looked back at the paper she was holding._

_The other family members looked at Lance with extremely sad and concerned looks on their faces._

“ _What?” He asked, feeling panic rise in his chest. “What’s wrong?”_

_Slowly, his mother put down the paper._

“ _Lance...” She said gently. “Remember when I told you I had to go to the doctor?” She asked. She waited for Lance to nod. “Because I had that cold?” He nodded again. She waited for him to nod after every phrase, as if to ease him into the situation._

“ _Well… Lance, I’m very sick.” Her volume dropped slightly as her sister clutched her hand tighter.”_

“ _...how sick?” Lance asked, afraid to know the answer._

_She didn’t respond for a moment, releasing her sister’s hand to cover her mouth in a brief show of sadness before wiping away a single tear._

“ _Very.” The answer was simple, but it rang through Lance’s head like a bell._

“ _We can go back to the hospital, right?” Lance asked, almost pleading. “You’re going to get better, right?”_

_His mother shook her head. “Lance, sweetie… we’re going to get through this, okay?” She tried to console Lance, but he was already crying, tears running down his face._

“ _Oh, Lance...” The sister said. “Honey, it’s going to be oka-”_

“ _No!” He shouted, startling the family. “No, it’s not gonna be okay! I- I-” He sniffled, unable to cope with the situation._

_His mother sighed. “Lance, come here.” She said._

_Still crying, Lance came to her, leaning on her shoulder as she continued talking._

“ _No matter what happens, I will always love you.” She whispered. “We’ve got time. The doctors say it will take years.”_

“ _It’s not fair...” He sniffed, holding on to her shoulder for dear life._

“ _I know it isn’t, sweetie.” She said, reaching up to wipe a tear away. “But it’s not how long, right? It’s what you do that matters.”_

* * *

“Gah!” Lance sat up so fast he threw his pillow across the room. He was panting, breathing hard from the dream. He felt his face just to make sure he was real, feeling the wetness of tears on his cheeks.

“What the hell...” He whispered to himself, looking around the room, just to double-check he was really awake. Then he held his head in his hands. “What is happening to me?”

Slowly, he got up. Leaning out the door, he saw Keith was in the living room. He was…

Lance’s eyes widened.

With Pidge.

“Noooooooo!” He shouted, running out of his bedroom, sliding off the hardwood and hitting the back of the couch, flipping over it and landing on top of Keith, who didn’t react much. He simply lifted Lance back up, depositing him on the nearest cushion as he and Pidge continued talking.

“And so I’m confused, cuz that strain died out, like, 50 million years ago or something?” She was chewing gum and chatting to Keith, who was listening incredibly closely. “And so I did some testing, spun it in the centrifuge, yada-yada, and turns out!” She made a raspberry sound. “It was just a smudge on the lens!”

Keith burst out into laughter, making Lance reel back. He had never heard Keith laugh before. It was a subtle, but still very recognizable sound. Very… likeable.

“The whole time!” Pidge concluded.

“That is funny!” Keith agreed. “You wasted valuable resources on… on a smudge!” He laughed again. “What a story!”

Pidge turned her attention to Lance. “Oh, hey Lance. You didn’t show up to work. So after my shift that you were _supposed_ to take me out after, I came here.” Her voice was laced with venom.

Lance’s eyes narrowed. “How did you get in here?”

She jerked a thumb at Keith. “Your boyfriend let me in. What was your name again?”

“It is Keith.”

“He’s not my boyfriend.” Lance corrected. “He’s… a tenant.”

“Oh, really?” She cocked an eyebrow. “That’s not what he told me.”

Lance shot a look at Keith, who did not cower or shy away. Instead, he said,

“Is that not the truth?”

Lance sighed. He understood the miscommunication.

“What Keith meant to say is that we are friends that happen to be boys.”

“Yes, exactly.” Keith agreed.

Pidge stared, confused. Then she shrugged. “Well, anyway. He let me in. We’ve been discussing microbiology for, what an hour?”

“An hour and thirteen minutes.”

“An hour and thirteen minutes.” She repeated, looking at Lance smugly. “I say he’s a keeper. He knows a lot about… well, everything.”

“Yeah, yeah, he’s a real nice guy.” Lance said impatiently. “Look, I had a rough night, so-”

“Ohhh no.” Pidge crossed her arms. “You’ve gone almost six days without even saying hi to me, don’t think you’re just gonna worm you way out of this one!”

Lance sighed. He was so tired. “Pidge, please-”

He saw the face she gave him and changed his mind.

“I’ll be ready in thirty minutes.” He said, defeated.

“Oh, where are you going?” Keith asked.

“Yeah, let’s bring Keith along!” Pidge said. “It’ll be fun! I’ll third-wheel.”

Lance rolled his eyes. “He’s not my- goddamnit.”

Today was going to be a rough one.


	4. Chapter 4

_Subject spotted on Floor 53._

A voice blared over the loudspeaker.

Red lights blazed overhead, the imposing metal catwalks and hallways looming all around Keith.

He was at a junction of four hallways. He didn’t know what to do. His brain wasn’t fully recovered from the experiments they performed on him…

His escape from the research bay was nothing short of a miracle. He could feel the empty spaces in between his synapses, dead space created to keep him dumb and obedient. He had even forgotten who he was or where he was going. He felt the steel collar around his neck as it beeped quietly, telling him it was active and inhibiting his adaptive abilities.

He groaned, holding his head in his hands, trying to bridge the gaps in his gray matter. It was happening, but far too slowly. He couldn’t even comprehend where he was.

“Quick, over here!” A woman in a lab coat appeared in one of the hallways. Her dark skin and white hair… Keith knew here from… somewhere. She beckoned with a hand. “Hurry!”

The sirens where still blaring, cameras swiveling to watch as he ran with the woman. Her high heels clicked on the steel floor before she discarded them for speed.

“We have to get you out of here, they’re going to find you.” She said hurriedly, typing a number on a keypad and dragging Keith into a new hallway.

They ran, twisting and turning through corridors and entrance ways, trying to find some way out of this metal and glass hell.

Finally, the woman found what she was looking for. A cleaning supply area, full of chemicals and sanitation equipment.

“Who… you?” Keith mumbled, trying to form sentences.

“It’s okay, it’s okay.” The woman said quickly, pulling a syringe out of her pocket and stabbing it into a container marked “ _CITRUSOLV: For Powerful Grease Stains!_ ”

She pulled the orange liquid out of the container and turned Keith around, stabbing it into his neck and injecting it into his body.

Keith could feel electricity spread from the point up into his brain, neurons beginning to fire again.

“A… Allura?”

“It’s not perfect, but it’ll have to do.” She said, almost to herself. Then she turned Keith again, making him face her. Tears were in her eyes.

“Keith, this is the last time we’re going to see each other, okay?” She whispered, smoothing out his white test-subject gown with motherly care. “I need you to promise me you’ll be good, okay?”

“Wait...” He said just as quietly. “Where are we going?” His brain was still trying to catch up. “Why are you crying?”

“You’re going away, Keith.” She said, grabbing a crowbar from the wall and walking to a manhole cover in the floor. “You’re going far away so they can’t hurt you anymore.” She heaved, pulling the metal off of the cover, revealing a deep dark hole into the floor. “And so they can’t use you to hurt anyone.”

She hugged him tight for a moment, then pulled an injection from a vial on her waist, stabbing it into his wrist. His body was almost fully functional now, but he knew something strange was in that vial.

He finally understood, pulling her closer to him.

She looked into his eyes. “Remember what I taught you, okay?”

Keith nodded. “Life is the most important thing.”

“You have to protect it, Keith. Promise me.” She said through her tears.

“I promise.”

“You’ve grown up so much… it seems like just yesterday you were some small spore from space, and now...” She trailed off, unable to find the words.

They embraced one more time, but were interrupted by armed guards bursting into the room. Allura pushed Keith off of her, shoving him backwards towards the manhole. He stumbled once, then fell through it, seeing a hail of bullets spray across the top of the opening.

She was gone.

He fell, plummeting deep into the heart of… wherever he was. He impacted a slanted wall, bouncing off of it and rolling down into the sewer system, falling into fetid water.

He let the current carry him for what seemed like hours before he pulled himself out of it, drenched in filth. He couldn’t believe she was gone…

His memories of her were fuzzy, partly due the the tampering of his brain and partly because he was sedated for a large portion of their contact. He remembered something she told him about being kind, being gentle…

She would always give him oranges from underneath the research gate, always protect him when the other scientists got handsy. And now, she had given the ultimate sacrifice: Her own life to save his.

He didn’t understand it, he would never understand it. But he was eternally grateful.

And sad. Sad that another one of his lives had been marred with such misery and tragedy… but how many was this now? He had heard the head researcher say he was at least 5,000 years old, but he couldn’t remember anything other than his current existence as…

As a what? Why was he here in this labyrinthine prison? What were they keeping him here for?

He heard a quiet squeaking as a rat crossed his line of sight. The diminutive creature, small and frail, triggered something within him.

He was a weapon. To them, at least. They had been grooming him to be a bioweapon. A tool to end lives and destroy worlds. He had hazy memories of combat testing, adaption testing… but they were all out of his reach.

The beeping on his collar stopped abruptly, signaling that he was out of range. Sighing, he tried to pry it off his neck, but it did not budge. He felt along the rim of the steel, searching for a hole or rim. He found a small slice of space on the back, elongating his fingers to reach within and channeling his strength to rip it open, throwing the hated device onto the cold ground.

He had to find open air. Whatever Allura had injected him with was beginning to take effect. He hadn’t know at the time what it was, but he knew now. She was giving him a fresh start, sending him far away. But he wouldn’t be able to reincarnate if he didn’t find a way out.

He looked back at the rat as it obliviously pawed away at the pavement. He narrowed his eyes. He didn’t like what he was about to do, but he was not going to let Allura’s death be in vain.

Quick as flash, his hand shot out, flattening and crushing the rodent in an instant. Even though he knew it was going to happen, Keith still winced on impact. He hated killing things, but sometimes…

Sometimes it was necessary.

He looked away, ashamed, as the rat’s biomass was broken down and integrated into his own body. The dead creature’s gray matter was picked apart into separate nodes and cells, then re-arranged and added to his own. In a way, it never died. It would always be a part of him, now.

Nevertheless, he pored through the new information and found his way out. An exit shaft a few dozen yards ahead. He followed the memories, finding a ladder that was scratched from other rats crawling up and down the rungs. He climbed, reaching a steel hatch that was locked from the outside. It must have been a recent development: how else would the rats come and go?

He breathed deeply, preparing himself to change on the fly. He pushed up from the rungs, a pair of long, curved horns erupting from his head and slamming into the hatch, knocking it into the air. He climbed out, feeling grass and dirt under his hands as the horns receded back into his body.

He was in a field somewhere. A brief look around told him he was on a large space colony of some sort, orbiting a planet that had a blue tinge to it.

Blue-green grass gently swayed in the artificial breeze. A thin atmosphere was present. But Keith didn’t have time to ponder the beauty and wonder of being this close to space.

As soon as he stood on the grass, the poison Allura injected him with took full effect. He allowed it to happen, not adapting any sort of purging organ or filtration method. A seed glowed in his stomach: he was going to live on. Somewhere far away from here.

Then, perhaps, he’d be safe.

* * *

 

 __The drive to the restaurant was uneventful, aside from Lance keeping a watchful eye on Pidge and Keith as they talked. Pidge was doing most of it, he noticed. Keith was more of a listener, but he would occasionally pipe up with something that would make her laugh. Lance’s hands gripped the steering wheel hard. There was something slightly off-putting about the two talking.

Pidge didn’t know what Keith really was or what he was capable of. It put Lance on edge.

* * *

“So...” Keith leaned in to Lance, holding the menu awkwardly. “What do I do?”

Pidge had stepped away to use the restroom, leaving Keith and Lance alone for a moment in JoAnn’s Bayside Bar. Keith had kept his mouth shut, but Lance knew he was amazed by this new experience, as he always was.

“You look at the food on the menu, and you pick one you want.” Lance said.

“Anything I want?”

“Anything you want. I’m paying.” Lance muttered the last part, knowing he was paying a debt to Pidge.

Keith pored through the menu for a moment before he leaned over again. “I don’t know what any of this is.”

Lance narrowed his eyes. “I thought you knew everything I knew?”

“That was more of a… human genome sort of thing.” Keith said, his tone very casual.

“Mhm.”

Keith looked back at the menu uncomfortably, wilting under Lance’s stare.

“Here, I’ll have this.” Keith said quickly, trying to change the subject and redirect Lance’s eyes. He pointed to the menu.

“Salmon and tiramisu.” Lance read out loud. “Or do you not know what those are, either?”

For the first time, Lance saw Keith blush, possibly from embarrassment.

“Look, I focused on the important things like speech and breathing, okay?” His was speaking quickly and quietly out of the corner of his mouth. “I didn’t pick through your brain and learn every single thing you ate or thought about eating.”

This was… new. Keith was acting just like some of Lance’s friends when they got put on the spot.

Lance held up his hands. “Okay, okay. I’m sorry.” He felt like he was riding Keith far too hard. The restaurant alone was probably a lot of stimulation for him. “I didn’t mean to make you feel bad.”

Before Keith could respond, Pidge came back and sat down, stretching out over the seat.

“Sorry about that, lines for the lady’s room are always so long here...”

A waiter appeared by their table with a disinterested look on his face.

“Ready to order?”

“Oh, I’ll have the usual.” Pidge said happily.

The waiter began writing in a notepad. “One burger, no lettuce, extra sauce, well-done with fries and clams.” He droned.

Lance looked at Pidge. “The usual?”

“I come here a lot.” Pidge replied, pretending to inspect her nails. “I invited you at least six times but you’re either sleeping or… well, I dunno.” She huffed sadly.

“Well, I-”

“And for you, sir?” The waiter was talking to Keith now, who looked at Lance. Lance gestured for him to speak.

“Uh… I’ll have the, uh… salmon and tiramisu?” He phrased his order like a question, earning an eyebrow raise from Pidge.

“Very good. And for you?”

Lance waved him away. “Just a water please.” He would have more than enough on his plate dealing with these two.

The waiter left, leaving the three alone again.

“Pidge,” Lance started, continuing the discussion while Keith examined the cutlery and glasses, “I’ve just been… busy.” He looked at Keith for a moment. “Really busy.”

Pidge rolled her eyes. “Too busy to even make it to work? That poor squid is just begging to be examined and you’re wasting time with...” She too looked at Keith, who looked back at her and waved happily. “With Keith.”

“I’m sorry, okay?” Lance said. “Busy is busy, no matter why I am, you know?”

“What’s going on with you, man?” Pidge asked, concern creeping into her voice. “You haven’t been social since, well since...” She trailed off.

“That’s not why.” Lance interrupted before she could finish the thought.

“You can talk to me, you know? I’m your friend.”

“I’m fine, Pidge.”

“Okay, if you say so.” There was a moment of silence at the table before a soft clattering alerted Lance that Keith had dropped his fork.

Keith said a quiet “Sorry,” as he dipped down to retrieve it.

Pidge drew a line in the air between the two boys. “What’s the deal with you two, anyway?” She asked.

Lance’s heart skipped a beat, but he had been rehearsing this. “I met him on the beach a few weeks ago.”

“Doing what?”

“Volleyball.”

“In 50 degree weather?” She asked. “Hardly seems the right time.”

“Well, you know me. I love volleyball.”

“Mhm.” She murmured. Then she looked at Keith, knowing he would be easier to pry information from. “Keith, how do you know Lance?”

Keith stiffened. “Um… volleyball.”

Pidge snorted. “You are far too pale, man. Nice try.” She leaned in, glaring at Lance. “Was it online dating? Cuz that’s fine, I won’t judge. Whatever gets you out and meeting new people-”

“It was not that.” Lance hissed. “Can you just drop it, Pidge?”

“I’m worried, Lance.” Pidge cut to the quick, foregoing her stalling. “You’ve been so mopey and anti-social since… well, you know.”

“You can say it, Lance.”

“Since she passed.” Pidge looked around awkwardly, as if she was saying something dirty. “You were fine at first but you haven’t talked to Hunk in weeks, Shiro in months-”

“I’m fine, Pidge.” Lance lied.

“I don’t want you to be just _fine_ , I want you to be great.” She corrected. “All you do is work, then sleep. Work, sleep. I’m worried about you, man.”

“Just drop it.”

She looked at him for a moment, sizing him up. Then, she leaned back. “Fine, but only because you’re paying and I don’t want to risk being left with the check. Andddd speaking of which!”

Their food had arrived. The waiter placed their dishes in front of them, still steaming. Lance watched Keith carefully to make sure he still remembered how to eat with a mouth and not a terrifying pseudopod.

He picked up the fork and began eating normally, although he started with the tiramisu first.

Baby steps. Lance thought.

“This is so good...” Pidge moaned around the burger in her mouth. “Lance, I know you didn’t get anything, but do you want some of mine?” She pointed to her clams. “More than enough, man.”

Lance shook his head, still watching Keith eat. “I’m good, Pidge.” Keith was enjoying himself immensely, the sweet flavor of the cake dissolving in his mouth. Lance liked watching him smile, a nice change of pace from the usual situations they found themselves in.

But then Keith made a face. It was pained, as if something had just stabbed him the gut.

“Um...” He groaned. “Excuse me.” He stood very quickly and bolted to the bathroom.

Pidge watched him go. “Huh. Guess the tiramisu goes right through him.”

Lance nodded. “Yeah, I guess-” He froze in his speech, remembering something Keith had told him.

_I can’t have alcohol. It makes my body inhospitable for cellular division._

Lance flung open the menu, searching for the tiramisu and reading the ingredients. That was _a lot_ of alcohol. Of course it had alcohol in it.

“Pidge, I’ll be right back.” He said, jumping up and running to the bathroom. He opened the door quietly, just in case anyone else was inside, but it was just him and Keith, presumably. He locked the door behind him. The bathroom was just one stall and one urinal with a sink and mirror.

“Keith? Are you okay-” He was cutoff by a retching sound coming from one of the stalls, followed by a sickening splash. He heard Keith groan loudly from behind the door.

Lance tapped the stall. “Can I come in?”

“No...” Keith moaned, but his voice was not his normal calm tone. It was distorted, doubled up and discordant. Lance’s eyes widened. Something more than vomiting was happening in that stall.

“Keith, do you need my help?” He asked again, determined to see this through.

“Don’t come in… give me a-” Another disgusting sound emanated from the stall, and something rolled out from under it and nudged Lance’s sneaker.

He looked down to see a long eyeball attached to a stalk that blinked inquisitively. Horrified, Lance jumped back, but the eye snaked it’s way back under the stall.

“I’m sorry...” Keith said, quieter this time. “I’m having… problems...”

Lance stared at the door, his old fears about Keith resurfacing. “Keith, what kind of problems?” He asked carefully.

Keith didn’t answer, but Lance dared to sneak a peek throw the crack in-between the door lock. Keith wasn’t hunched over the toilet like Lance thought, but he was standing, clutching his arms together. His face was sagging, and his skin was mottled with translucent patches that showed his organs and other viscera.

His whole body was rippling, waves rolling up from his feet to his head. Occasionally one of these ripples would cause an organ to move or elongate, making Keith hurriedly move it back into position.

Lance should’ve been horrified, but he wasn’t. He felt… sorry.

But before he could speak again Keith saw him looking through the crack.

“No!” He said loudly, turning and isolating himself in a corner Lance couldn’t see.

“Please don’t look!” His voice was frantic.

Lance’s expression flattened as he sighed. “I’m coming in, Keith.”

“No, Lance wait-”

“I said I’m coming in-”

“No, you don’t understand-”

Lance tried to open the stall, but he felt something pull it shut before he could pry it open.

“Keith, let me come in.”

“It’s not just about my- hurk!” Keith heaved, and something reached for Lance between the crack, terrifying tendrils of bone splaying against the outside of the door, making Lance scream and back up.

“Keith, what the fuck is that!” Lance asked, double-checking the make sure the entrance door was locked.

“I’m not… I’m not in control.” Keith said as the bone-tentacles retracted slowly. Lance could see his eyes peeking out from the crack, checking to make sure Lance was okay. “My body is in a state of flux.”

“Yeah, I can see that!” Lance retorted. “Can I come in without… _that_ happening?”

“Probably not...” Keith said quietly. “Give me a second, it’s almost-” He gasped, something choking in his throat. “Almost done!” Lance saw what looked like jellyfish tentacles explode out of the top of the stall, draping themselves over the sides. They pulsed gently, before they too slowly retracted back into the horror show that was happening in the stall.

Then there was silence for a bit. Then, Lance heard shuffling as Keith carefully opened the door, peeking out at Lance tentatively.

“Are you okay?” He asked.

“Me!?” Lance shouted. “What do you mean, am _I_ okay? What about _you_? What was that?”

Keith huffed, exhausted from the ordeal. “Can we… can we not talk about it?”

Lance opened his mouth in shock. “What!? Of course we have to talk about it, you just-”

A knock on the door interrupted them.

“ _Hey, other people have to use the bathroom, you know!”_

* * *

They had re-seated themselves at the table. Pidge cocked an eyebrow at the two of them. Her food was long finished.

“Um… you two okay?” She asked.

“Yup.” Lance nodded. “Yup, all good. Everything’s fine.”

Pidge sighed, not convinced. “Lance, I hope one day you tell me what’s going on.” She said sadly. “I called Hunk to come pick me up.”

“What? Why?” Lance sputtered. “I was only gone for-”

“Fifty minutes.” She said. “I just… I just don’t have the energy right now.” She stood, closing her purse. “It was nice meeting you, Keith.” She touched his shoulder, and then walked away.

Lance was dumbfounded. A gray fog began clouding his heart. He was pushing away one of his only friends, and he didn’t know how to stop it.

* * *

The drive home was just as quiet as the drive to the restaurant. Wordlessly, they entered the house, Lance throwing his jacket onto the couch angrily.

Keith shuffled awkwardly, as if he wanted to say something but didn’t know how.

“I’m… uh...” He began, but Lance glared at him.

“You couldn’t tell it had alcohol in it?” He accused, eyes boring through Keith’s. “I thought you were some sort of hyper-advanced alien, hm?”

Keith blushed. “I wasn’t paying attention. There were so many new things, and-”

“How convenient.” Lance said. “Of course. You weren’t paying attention.”

“Lance, I’m sorry. It was not my intent to-”

“I don’t want to talk to you right now.” Lance cut him off. “I’m taking a shower and I’m going to bed.” He was over this day, and he didn’t want to even look at Keith, let alone talk to him.

Before Keith could respond, Lance was already slamming the door to the bathroom.


	5. Chapter 5

“Fuck…” Lance whispered, pressing his head against the tile of the shower. That was not the right thing to do. As usual, he was beginning to feel the weight of instant, crushing regret crowd his thoughts. He was too hard on Keith. He was still learning, he didn’t know that would happen. And with Pidge being… well, Pidge, it was all just too much for him. And the way Keith’s body had changed during his episode was an entirely different problem.

 

He’d have to apologize. Make things right. It would be easy, he’d done stuff like this before. Say he’s sorry, take Keith out again, and make sure it goes better this time. Easy fix.

 

Yup. Easy.

 

He leaned back, feeling the water run down his face.

 

None of this was easy. He was harboring a meta-morphic alien from the deep ocean in his house, he was skipping _so much_ work, he was losing his friends… Not to mention the feelings he was starting to have towards said alien. The fact that he even cared about Keith at all was telling. Since his mom died, it had been difficult for him to even get the energy to give a crap about anyone but himself, and even that was a rare occasion.

 

He had to shake this. But even that was hard. Ever since Keith had arrived, Lance had been having those dreams… weird, far-off worlds, strange creatures, multiple lives, all interspersed with flashbacks of his mother.

 

Just… strange.

 

He sighed, turning the water off. He’d go apologize right now. Cut the quick. And maybe he could have a heart-to-heart with Keith. It’d make them both feel better.

 

He stepped out of the shower, wrapping a towel around his waist. He stepped out of the bathroom, peeking out into the living room.

 

“Look, Keith...” He began, but Keith wasn’t there. His usual spot on the couch was empty. The porch door was open.

 

“...shit.”

 

 

Keith wandered the beach for a while, feeling the sand between his toes, the wind on his skin. Even something as simple as his skin confounded him. Was it just his skin? Or was it just a shell to hide the monster beneath?

 

Lance thought he was… ugly probably wasn’t the right word. Ugly is something that simply didn’t conform to typical aesthetics.

 

Keith was terrifying. Unreal. Something from a horror movie. Despite his best efforts, he couldn’t hide that he wasn’t human. But who was he hiding it from? From Lance? Lance already knew.

 

Perhaps he was trying to run from himself, escape into a world of different pleasures. Movies, television, food that was cooked, homes, sleep. The worst part about knowing you don’t belong somewhere is realizing that you belong nowhere.

 

He stared out into the twilight sunset, the sky painting in shades of orange of purple. A view he couldn’t enjoy from his original vantage point in the ocean. His eyes widened.

 

The ocean.

 

Maybe he could go back into the water and live there forever. It was simpler in the water, less painful and confusing. He thought Lance liked him? Just a couple of nights ago he was willing to let Keith share a bed with him, albeit for a moment.

 

One step forward, then two steps back.

 

When did Lance matter so much? When did the feelings of another organism affect his own judgment? He supposed it happened right when he saw the human. The decision to spare his life, to reveal himself, to climb aboard the boat. In his own way, those were displays of affection.

 

He wanted to go back into the ocean, even just for a little bit. He had no meaning up here on land. Perhaps he could find it if he went back to the source.

 

So, he stood and began walking into the surf. He felt his legs change slightly, becoming webbed and more hydrodynamic. He didn’t have enough biomass or time to assume his original long-tailed form, but this would suffice for now. He arced backwards, feeling his ribs split into gills. Then, he dove forward, disappearing into the icy black water.

 

 

“I’m telling you Hunk, I can’t deal with it anymore.” Pidge sighed, popping her gum loudly as she leaned back and let Hunk massage her brown curls into a more manageable form. “He’s such a pouty pants lately.”

 

She reclined even more in the salon chair. Hunk just nodded, running a comb through the hair and began cutting.

 

“Like, I don’t know what to do.” She rolled her head. “Do you?”

 

“Please don’t move.” Hunk whispered, narrowly avoiding a fashion disaster.

 

“Oh, right. Sorry. I’m just worried is all.” She continued. “Has he even talked to you since our last outing?”

 

“Nope.” Hunk said sadly. “Not a text or call. He could at least pretend to schedule something here at the salon.” He looked around at the empty chairs. The salon was close to closing, and the other hairdressers had clocked out. “It’s not like we’re busy.”

 

“What can we even do?”

 

“Nothing much we can do. We can give him all the support, but he has to be the one to make a change.” Hunk said, focused on Pidge’s hair.

 

“You talk like an old lady.”

 

“That’s who I spend most of my time talking to.”

 

They were interrupted by the sound of the bell on the door signaling someone had entered. A man had appeared, tall and imposing, with a shaved head and black sunglasses, even at this late hour. He wore a black suit that was pefectly pressed and ironed.

 

Hunk looked up from Pidge for a moment, cocking an eyebrow. “Can I help you?”

 

“Perhaps.” The man intoned. “I’m on a body recovery assignment for California Bay police department.” He stepped forward, procuring a photo from his lapel and showing it to Hunk and Pidge. “Have you seen anything like this in the Bay area?”

 

Hunk looked at the photo for a moment before shrugging. “Nope. I don’t go out on the water much, anyway. How bout you, Pidge?”

 

She shook her head. “Sorry.”

 

The man’s expression did not change. “Shame. Here’s my card.” He handed them each a silver-lined business card. “Call me if you do. I always pick up.” Then he was gone just as quick as he had entered. As soon as he left, Pidge stood up.

 

“Hunk, dry me off. I need to talk to Lance.”

 

 

“Fuck fuck fuck fuck fuck….” Lance hissed, digging through the couch as if he would find a trace of Keith in the cushions. His anxiety was spiking. He had upset Keith. He didn’t know how he’d react, what he’d do… he was dangerous in his natural state, who knows what he’d do when he’s-

 

A loud banging on his door jolted him from his thoughts.

 

“ _ **Lance**_!” Came an extremely angry voice. “ _Open this fucking door right now_!”

 

Lance sprinted to the door and threw it open. There stood Pidge, her hair sopping and half-cut. She barged in, slamming the door and shoving Lance roughly in the chest.

 

“Ow! Pidge, what the-”

 

“Okay, Lance!” She interrupted. “I just had a Man-In-Black show me a picture of your boyfriend while I was getting my hair cut!” She shouted.

 

“What!?” Lance asked, still confused.

 

“The feds are after Keith, Lance! They have a picture of him swimming! They are looking for him, and I want to know why he’s here with you!”

 

“They’re looking for him!?” Lance’s world shut down. He hadn’t even thought of the possibility that someone else might know about Keith, let alone the U.S government.

 

His eyes widened.

 

If Keith was a target, so was he. So was Pidge. Everyone Lance knew had been put in danger.

 

“Stop!” Pidge interjected, jabbing a finger into his chest. “Stalling!” She punctuated it with another jab.

 

“Pidge...” Lance said quietly, overwhelmed. “He’s… well, first of all, he’s not here anymore.”

 

She looked at him with death in her eyes. “What do you mean ‘he’s not here’?”

 

“He… ran away?” He phrased the sentence like a question.

 

“He ran away.” She repeated. “Ran away.”

 

“Yeah...” Lance said sheepishly. “I think I upset him… I kinda yelled at him about dinner...”

 

“But _what_!” She was yelling again. “Did he _do_!?”

 

Lance sighed. “Remember… remember when I told you about that thing I found in the ocean a few weeks ago?”

 

There was a pause in her expressions. A brief flicker of realization.

 

“You… you were serious.”

 

“Yes.”

 

“I don’t believe this.”

 

 

 

It was dark in the waters of the abyss. Keith had dove down deep, deeper than he probably should have. He didn’t reflect on the depth, didn’t care when the twilight colors began to fade to black. Soon, the tuna and krill of the upper water column were replaced with…

 

Nothing.

 

There was an empty silence, a deep, dull hum of the Earth’s tectonics plates rumbling as they moved. He was very near the bottom of the ocean. He needed to be away from the surface. Away from Lance.

 

He found he wasn’t angry anymore. He was more sad and disappointed than anything.

 

A distinct clicking reverberated through the black water. A large creature was echo-locating it’s way through the dark. It sounded like a tree being slowly snapped in half. Keith didn’t care. He could defend himself if he needed to.

 

Small flickers of light began to spark in front of him now that the water was calming from his descent. Minuscule plankton-like creatures flashed and danced, comfortable with his presence. He was near where he first landed, he realized. But exactly where that was would remain a mystery.

 

He dove deeper.

 

He brushed his hands on the rock of the seafloor, feeling harsh edges and the occasional skittering sea-spider of crab flit out of his way. This was a desert. An inhospitable environment for most things.

 

Yet he could survive down here easily. His body density was lowered to accommodate the pressure, he was breathing just fine. Perhaps he belonged here?

 

Another echo-locating call sounded through the water. This one was… mournful. Extremely so. Keith knew it wasn’t from a cephalopod or crustacean. It was a mammalian call.

 

 

“Stop _fucking_ with me, Lance!” Pidge shouted.

 

Lance drew back, cowed and embarrassed. “Pidge, I’m telling you the trut-”

 

“What, he’s a convict isn’t he?” She accused, pointing a finger at him. “You can’t keep doing shitty things just because you’re sad! You did it to Shiro, and now you’re doing it to me!” There was silence after her outburst.

 

Lance hung his head. “I know, Pidge. I’m sorry. But…” He sighed. “That’s all the information I’ve got.”

 

Pidge crossed her arms. “Well...” She sighed as well. “Where would he go?”

 

Lance looked up. “What?”

 

“You know him better than me. Where would he go to cool off?”

 

 

Keith knew this place. He dragged his hands along the seafloor, feeling small crabs and urchins skitter away from him. He had been here before.

 

This was where he landed. He felt small pulses in the earth, telltale signs of dormant volcanoes. But as he continued swimming, the seafloor dropped out. An empty, black expanse opened beneath him. Cold, briny water rushed out from it.

 

He stared into it for a moment, before he heard the mammalian call again.

 

His skin began to crawl.

 

He whirled around, suddenly feeling like something was watching him, sharp claws erupting from his hands. But there was nothing.

 

He turned back around to the hole.

 

This was it. The place he had crashed-landed at. His biogenesis.

 

Another call.

 

Keith’s skin was beginning to crawl. What was in that hole? If he came from this place… why was he so apprehensive?

 

No, this wasn’t apprehension…

 

This was fear.

 

For the first time in his life, his short existence, Keith was feeling true fear.

 

Wait… if Keith crashed here, and this is the crater…

 

Keith’s eyes widened.

 

_There are others like him._

 

Where was that call coming from? He knew it was something large, but… he couldn’t quite place it.

 

Almost reluctantly, he turned away from the hole to begin his trek back home.

 

Something was there. It had swam up behind him, almost silently. He was face-to-face with the creature, it’s enormous body rolling in the water.

 

Keith had seen this type of animal before, but had never been this close.

 

A whale, deep blue and calmly floating at the bottom of the sea.

 

This was the source of the call. It’s dark eyes surveyed him, holding within them a human quality Keith couldn’t quite place.

 

It knew what he was. It knew he wasn’t from here. That he didn’t belong. He came from that hole in the ground, that itself came from space, from a place far beyond this world.

 

Keith sighed, bubbles escaping his mouth. He braced himself for the whale to begin attacking, to try to swallow him whole.

 

But it didn’t. It simply kept staring at him, this behemoth of the sea was just… looking.

 

 _What!?_ Keith wanted to shout. _Why are you looking at me!? Don’t you know I’m dangerous!?_

 

He felt so frustrated that this intelligent creature couldn’t see the very real threat Keith posed. The whale blinked slowly, as if it were taking it’s time with Keith.

 

Then, it moved slightly forward, bumping Keith softly with it’s snout. He felt the pressure of water as it exhaled around him. It stayed there for a few more seconds, then it disengaged from Keith, slowly floating upwards with powerful, ponderous strokes of it’s tail.

 

Keith didn’t understand. The whale was not afraid of him at all. In fact… it greeted him like a friend?

 

None of this was right. What was that crater doing here? How did the whale know?

 

He needed answers.


End file.
